CSP Today: CSP Central to Moroccan Renewable Targets

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CSP Today: Recent news that tender for Phase II of the Ouarzazate site in southern Morocco will open at the end of 2013 emphasises the role that concentrated solar power is playing in the country.

London, UK (PRWEB UK)23 January 2013

Press reports indicate that Phase II of the Ouarzazate site will be over 300MW in size. Adding this to the current 160MW in development of Phase I, this site alone will go some way towards meeting Morocco’s target of 2GW of solar capacity by 2020.

In September 2012 the Moroccan agency MASEN announced that ACWA Power, in a consortium with Spain’s TSK, SENER and Aries, were awarded the Ouarzazate plant. The consortium passed the two rounds since Q4 2010 when MASEN unveiled a call for tenders.

As Morocco has one of the best solar resources in North Africa, it has been a market of interest for the CSP industry for a number of years now. The issue of interconnection with Europe to provide inter-continental energy transfer has added to the appeal.

At MENASOL 2013 (14-15 May, Dubai), the Morocco opportunity will be discussed in further detail. Obaid Amrane, Board Member of MASEN will be providing an update on the current policy and progress of the country. In addition, Louy Qoaider of the German DLR will discuss the transmission challenges of exporting energy to Europe from North Africa, as part of the enerMENA Project.